Iraqi Cleric, Exiting Politics, Urges Others to Keep Serving

By Duraid Adnan

Feb. 18, 2014

BAGHDAD — Moktada al-Sadr, the influential anti-American Shiite cleric, reaffirmed in a speech in Najaf on Tuesday that he was withdrawing from Iraqi politics, telling his followers in Parliament to continue to serve but not on his behalf.

The speech disappointed supporters who hoped that his retirement, announced Saturday on his website, was a tactical move that he would soon reverse, as he had before. But it was welcomed by many political analysts, who said the country would benefit from greater separation between religion and politics.

In the speech, Mr. Sadr, 40, encouraged all Iraqis to participate in elections so that they would be represented fairly. He criticized the current government of Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki, saying it was behaving like a dictatorship and was using the army against the people.

“Iraq is under a black cloud, bloodshed and wars, killing each other in the name of law and religion,” Mr. Sadr said, adding that the country had “no life, no agriculture, no industry, no services, no security and no peace.”

He said that though the Maliki government had gained power promising to improve the lot of Iraq’s Shiite majority, which suffered under the long dictatorship of Saddam Hussein, it turned out to be “a group of wolves hungry for power and money, backed by the West and the East,” and that “politics became a door for injustice and carelessness.”

Mr. Sadr did not ask the 40 lawmakers belonging to his party, the Ahrar bloc, to resign their seats in the 325-member Parliament. “If you are a good politician, continue your work — but not under my name,” he said. He said in his statement on Saturday that no one should claim to speak for the party any more.

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Moktada al-SadrCreditReuters

In the sectarian unrest after the American-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, Mr. Sadr led a Shiite militia, the Mahdi Army, that fought against both the American forces and Iraqi Sunnis. He built a political movement modeled on the Lebanese organization Hezbollah that fused populism, Shiite faith and military strength to amass political power. In the national elections of 2010, he emerged as a kingmaker, throwing his support behind Mr. Maliki at Iran’s urging, but since then the two men have been more rivals than allies.

Mr. Sadr’s withdrawal “is the first modern, unique step from a religious leader to put religion away from politics,” said Saad Saloom, a professor of political science at Al Mustansiriya University here. “He gave more space for new political leaders to step up and prove that they are qualified.” Professor Saloom added that while some of Mr. Sadr’s followers may now vote for Mr. Maliki’s party, “in general it is not good for the Shiite alliance” for the charismatic Mr. Sadr to leave the arena.

Mahmood Othman, a Kurdish leader and member of Parliament, wondered about Mr. Sadr’s timing. “His withdrawal will affect the elections a lot, because he is one of the main players in the political process,” he said, adding that Mr. Sadr “seemed desperate and disappointed in the whole political process.”

Some of his supporters seemed to feel the same way on Tuesday. “Now we understand him more, he can’t work among thieves and criminals,” said Falih al-Timimi of Najaf, who said he backed Mr. Sadr’s party in past elections. “Who will I vote for this time? It’s confusing.”

The violence and bloodshed that have increasingly plagued Iraq in recent months continued to rage on Tuesday. Six car bombings in Baghdad and Hilla, all attributed to Qaeda militants, claimed at least 29 lives, security officials reported.

Mr. Maliki defended the country’s counterterrorism efforts in an essay published on the website of the American journal Foreign Policy. “Iraq has defeated Al Qaeda before, and we have a holistic strategy to defeat Al Qaeda again,” he wrote.

He insisted that religious differences were not driving Iraq’s violence: “What we are witnessing is not sectarian strife — it is indiscriminate slaughter. Al Qaeda kills Shiites. Al Qaeda kills Sunnis. And, on Christmas, the terrorists bombed Christian neighborhoods in Baghdad, murdering more than two dozen people on their holiest day. Because Al Qaeda believes in blowing people up, not in winning people over, it can be beaten, must be beaten, and will be beaten.”

Mr. Maliki said that his government was in discussions about resuming American training for its counterterrorism forces.

A version of this article appears in print on , on Page A9 of the New York edition with the headline: Iraqi Cleric, Exiting Politics, Urges Others to Keep Serving. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe